Freezing tray



A. J. FREI, SR.

FREEZING TRAY June 23, 1953 Filed Aug. 5]. 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l //v v EN 7-02 Ae'rHue J F351 3:.

HIS HTTOZNEYS June 23, 1953 Filed Aug. 31', 1950 A. J. FREI, sR

FREEZING TRAY 3 Sheets-She d; 2

. VEN Toe Aeruue J. Fan 5:.

BYWMAW Ill: Errol HEY-S June 23, 1953 J. FREI, SR 2,642,726

{FREEZING TRAY Filed Aug. 31, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 INVEN r0 2 ARTHUR J. Fr :1 52..

His 9 1' 'rORNBYs' Patented June 23, 1953 FREEZING TRAY Arthur J. Frei, Sn, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a

corporation of Delaware Application August 31, 1950, Serial No. 182,499

7 Claims. (Cl. 52-1085) This invention relates to mechanically-ejecting freezing trays suitable for use in household refrigerators.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved form of mechanically operated freezing tray from which dry hard frozen ice blocks may be harvested without the necessity of any application of heat thereto.

Some features of the partitioning'grid of this invention are: its ease of operation due to the hand lever camming directly upon the endmost cross wall with an initial enormously multiplied force to initiate the loosening operation by loosening the first transverse row of ice blocks, after which the loosening of additional ice blocks requires much less force; the longitudinal actuating bar or bars for successively moving the remaining cross walls forward are directly moved forward by their engagement with the endmost cross wall and are thereafter positively restored to their initial or freezing position by direct action of the hand lever itself; the endmost cross wall is restored to its initial or freezing position directly by the restoring movement of said actuating bar or bars.

By incorporating the above features in a threerow grid having two longitudinally extending partitions and any desired number of cross partitions (usually five or six cross partitions), a very simple efficient and easily operated design of a three-row grid is provided. Additional features specific to a three-row grid made according to this invention are: the two longitudinal partitions are inclined outwardly toward their bottom portions to permit the central ice blocks to more readily be removed after being loosened by the forward swinging movement of the cross walls; the single hand lever is pivotally mounted upon both of the two longitudinal partitions and thus retains them in effective lateral alignment and thereby retains all the cross partitions substantially in their normal directly transverse positions when viewed in plan; the hand lever cams directly against the endmost cross wall at two materially separated areas and thus prevents excessive camming pressure upon said endmost cross wall and provides a more emcient camming action thereupon.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be-apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the preesnt invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings: 1

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the grid and pan of this invention, all the parts being shown in freezing position.

. bars 22 loosely extend (see Fig. 8).

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, but shows the forward endmost cross wall having been tilted forward slightly to loosen the first three ice blocks from both pan and grid by the upward swinging of the hand lever to the position shown.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the grid showing the parts in freezing position, but with the endmost forward cross wall removed in order to more clearly show the parts immediately therebehind.

Fig. 4 is a detail side view of one of the longitudinal partitions, and Fig. 5 is an edge view thereof. p I Fig. 6 is a side view of one of the actuating bars, and Fig. 7 is one edge view thereof.

Fig. 8 is a detail face view of one of the cross partitions and Fig. 9 is an edge view thereof.

Figs. 10, 11 and 12 are detail views of the hand lever, Fig. 10 being atop view, Fig. 11 is a side view, and Fig. 12 an end view thereof.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

l0 designates the container pan, which is preferably drawn in one piece from sheet aluminum alloy and has a fiat bottom wall I I, slightly outwardly inclined side walls I2, and end walls I3 outwardly inclined at a greater angle so that the first three ice blocks to be loosened by the grid mechanism (as herein described) will easily slide upwardly along the inclined end wall I3 when the endmost cross wall is swung forward.

The removable grid 20 has two longitudinal partition walls 2 I, preferably diverging apart slightly from top and bottom and each having an outline shaped to fit loosely within pan l0. Along the top edge of each longitudinalwall 2| a relatively narrow actuating bar 22 is arranged to slide'longitudinally back and forth upon operation of the grid as later described herein. A series of cross partition walls 25 are loosely mounted upon said longitudinal Walls 2| at their lower edges, and upon the actuating bars 22 adjacent their upper edges in such manner that said cross walls 25 may be swung forwardly and rearwardly relative to the stationary longitudinal walls 2| when actuating bars 22 move longitudinally back and forth.

Cross walls 25 each have two inclined slots 26 therein thru which longitudinal walls 2| loosely extend, and two vertical slots 21 (forming an extension of slots 26) thru which the actuating The two longitudinal walls 2| have a series of notches 28 cut in their lower edges to loosely receive the small laterally projecting tongues 29 at the bottom margins of cross walls 25 as shown in Fig. 8. The two actuating bars 22 have open notches Then each cross wall 25 is slightly sprung out of alignment with the slots- 26. whereupon I each cross wall can then be slipped down over bars 22 and longitudinal walls 2|, which can then readily enter their slots 21 and 26 respectively. As each cross wall is so passed down it finally reaches a position where its two continuous portions 3| lie within their corresponding notches 3D in the two actuating bars. 22, at which position the small tongues 29willi register with their lower notches 28 and will enter same when the cross wall isreleased and canreturn to its normal unsprung position. Or the follow ing similar method may be .used for assembling these parts: the cross walls may beheld spaced apart and upside down in a suitable fixture with each wall 25 held sprung so that the small tongues 29 .donot obstruct the entrance of the actuating bars 22 and longitudinal'walls 2| into slots 26. Then bars 22 are passed thru the then open bottom ends of slots 26 into their slots 2! with theirnotches 3D registering with the continuous portions3| of the cross walls 25. Next the longitudinal walls 2| are similarly passed thru slots 26. into final. position with their lower notches 28 lying inapproximate registration with the small tongues 29. Thereupon cross walls 25 are released and permitted to, spring back to normal shape (in a single plane) and when so released the tongues 29 will'snap into their corresponding notches 28.. Then these parts will be loosely assembled together and the actuating bars 22 can berslid toand fro along the upper edge of walls 2| to cause cross walls 25 to swing about their bottom edges as a hinge axis to inclined positions either side of a vertical.

position.

The forked hand lever 40 has two opposed ouwardly projecting journal pins 4| which pivot in the aligned holes 42 located in the upper margin of the two longitudinal walls 2|.. The

two forked legs 43 of lever 40 can be. sprung to-j ward each other sufliciently to permit the two opposed journal pins 4| to pass .down between the two longitudinal walls 2| (in the partition assembly described above) into registration with the aligned holes 42, after which the legs 43 are.

permitted to spring apart back to normal position and cause pins 4| to project into their pivot holes 42.

Lever 40 has a rounded cam surface 45'on each of its two legs 43, which two cams 45 directly engage the forward endmost cross wall 25 cam arrangement can be made enormous orj moderate simply by designing the curvature of cam surface 45 accordingly; Preferably 'cam.

surfaces 45 are given such a curvature that, when hand lever 40 is swung-upwardly said cams 45 4 engage two areas on the rear surface of the endmost cross wall 25 and at first push same forward relatively very slowly but with a very high mechanical advantage (ratio of the force of cams 45 against cross wall 25 to the force applied by hand on lever 40). .After the engaged portions of the endmost cross wall 25 are so pushed and flexed forward only a few thousandths of an inch by cams 45 the entire cross wall will become peeled loose from the ice in which it is embedded. As lever 40 is swung further upwardlyat a uniform rate cams 45 are designed to pushsaid cross wall forward with a progressively reduced mechanical advantage and hence provide greater travel to the cross wall to entirely loosen the endmost three ice blocks from hem the grid and pan and thereafter cause said blocks to slide upwardly along the inclined end wall l3 of. the pan. Preferably the front face of cams 45 areso constructed asto allow slight free movement of the handle before it engages the cross wall to operate the grid.

When said endmost cross wall 25 is in freezing pos'ition the forward surfaces of its two continuous portions} lie to the rear of the bottom forward edge 5| of notch 30 in actuating bar 22 by a small clearance 50. This small clearance permits endmost cross wall 25 to swing forward sufficiently to loosenthe endmost three ice blocks (as describedabovel before said cross wallengages said forward edge 5| of notch 30, hence only the endmost'cross wall 25 is moved by lever 49 until after said first three ice blocks are loose. Thereafter endmost cross wall 25 engages said forward edges 5| and so pulls the two actuating bars 22 forward upon further upward swinging of hand lever 40. Fig. 2 shows the parts in position with the endmost cross wall 25 having been swung forward thru a verysmall angle to loosen the first three ice blocks and takerup the lost motion due to clearance 50. Now when said two actuating bars 22 are pulled forward by endmost cross wall 25, the notches 30, progressively wider from front to rear in said bars 22, successively engage and swing forward the remaining cross walls 25, one after the other, from the front to the rear of the grid and so successively loosen from the pan and grid. groups of three ice blocks at a time. It will be noted that the cams 45 can be easily and simply shaped to give an ample total travel to actuating bars 22 to complete the desired full swing of .the last cross wall 25 to be moved. By progressively increasing the radius of curvature of cams 45 outwardly from the pivot center 4| a total travel ofbars 22 of over three-quarters of an inch can readily be had in a 10 inch length grid. Thus it is seen that this cam arrangement not only provides a highly desirable very when in freezing position.

" sired, thus, completely freeing all the ice blocks from both pan and grid. Then thegrid may;

large mechanical advantage for initiating the loosening of the ice blocks (since the first ice blocks are the most difficult to loosen), but also provides a desirable large total travel of the actuating bars 22 such as will swing all of the cross walls thru a large angle and so more completely free the ice blocks from the grid. In Fig. 2 the cross walls 25 are shown inclined rearwardly at an angle of about 17 degrees from the vertical The cams 45 here shown will easily give such total travel to actuating bars 22 as will swing all the cross walls thru a vertical position and to a forwardly inclined position of 1'7-- degrees, or more if so dethe forward upper edges of the two notches 28" (i. e. points A) as a pivot axis. The purpose of this is to cause the lower portion of said rear most cross wall when swung forward to kick backwards and so insure the loosening from the grid of the last three ice blocks.

To restore the grid parts to freezing position, hand lever 40 is swung clockwise '(as' viewed in Fig. 2). Each actuating bar 22 has a laterally turned ear 60 projecting into the path of said lever 40 so that said ears 60 engage the rear surfaces of said lever (immediately opposite cam portions 45 thereon) and are cammed backward thereby. Upon lever 40 reaching its down or horizontal position shown in Fig. 1 the two actuating bars 22 will be held thereby in their rearmost or freezing position. As said bars 22 move rearward the forward edges of notches 30 therein swing, the cross walls 25 rearwardly untilall except the front cross wall abut against the small lateral ears 65 on longitudinal walls 2| which serve as stops therefor. Thus all crosswalls except the forwardmost cross wall are positively retained in their correct freezing positionswhen hand lever 40 is in its freezing position. The final small rearward movement-of thefront cross wall is caused by gravity until it is stopped by its engagement with the journal pins 4| of lever 40. When in this final or freezing position said front cross wall clears the front edge 5| of its notch 30 by the small clearance 50, for purposes described hereinabove. Preferably each cross wall 25 which underlies Yiand lever 40 when in its down position has its central upper edge cut away, as best shown at 24 in Fig. 8, to permit lever 40 to lie flush with the upper edges of the cross walls as shown in Fig. 3 This provides a flat surface and facilitates the stacking of the ice trays one upon the other.

In operation, the pan Ill with grid .20 in freezing position therein is filled with water, preferably tothe normal water level of about one quarter inch below the upper edges of the pan, and set within a freezing chamber until the contents are hard frozen. To harvest the ice blocks, the ice tray is removed from its freezing chamber and then set upon a table or other surface (or may be held in the hands if so desired) and the hand lever 40 operated to free all or as many of the ice blocks as may be desired at the time, as fully described above. The forwardmost cross wall 25 is directly and positively cammed forward relatively very slowly at first but with a great force until the three endmost ice blocks are loose. The next three ice blocks will not require so great a force to loosen same and the second cross wall can therefore be swung forward more easily than the first. Also all the remaining cross walls are successively progressively easier toswing forward as the pan I!) normally peels from the solid ice cake therein ahead of the cross walls being tilted forward at the time.

Hence the cams 45 may readily be given such curvature as to give the highest mechanical advantage when needed most, namely, at the first loosening of any ice blocks, and still give the. desired large, total-travel to the actuating bars 22 to providea large angular swing to the last cross 'wall to be tilted forward.

" While" the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred. form, it is to be understood that other forms.

might be adopted.

Whatis claimed is as follows: y

l. A freezing tray having a container pan and. a partitioning grid for said pan, said gridcom-z prising: a longitudinal partition wall, a plutents of thefreezing tray, a hand lever pivoted upon said longitudinal wall adjacent one of said cross walls and having a cam thereon fo-r direot-' 1y contacting and tilting forward said one cross wall to loosen itfrom the frozen contents bonded thereto, and mechanical means interconnecting said cross walls and directly actuated by the tilt" ing movement of said one cross wall "only after a predetermined movement thereof for tilting forward additional cross walls.

2. A freezing tray' having a container pan and a partitioning grid for said pan, said grid comprising: a longitudinal partition wall,-a plurality. I of cross partition walls each having a slot therein.

thru which a portion ofsaid longitudinal wallex tends, said cross walls being tiltable forward relative to said longitudinal wall to "loosen them from their bond to the frozen contents of the freezing tray, a hand lever pivoted upon said longitudinal wall adjacent one of said cross walls and having a cam thereon for directly contacting and tilting forward said one cross wall to loosen it from the frozen contents bonded thereto, and

an actuating bar extending along said longitudinal wall and arranged to be forcedlongitudinally along same by the forward tilting movement of said one cross wall for engaging and tilting forward additional cross walls.

3. A freezing tray having a container pan and a partitioning grid for said pan, said grid comprising: a longitudinal partition wall, a plurality of cross partition walls each having a slot there- 'in thru which a portion of said longitudinal wall extends, said cross walls being tiltable forward relative tosaid longitudinal wall to loosen them from their bond to the frozen contents of the freezing tray, a hand lever pivoted upon said longitudinal wall adjacent one of said cross walls and having a cam thereon for directly contacting and tilting forward said one cross wall to loosen it' from the frozen contents bonded thereto, and a longitudinally extending bar so arranged as to be moved forward by the forward tilting movement of said one cross wall only after said one cross wall has been tilted forward a predeter- 5 mined distance by said cam, said bar engaging having cam means for moving forward one of" said cross walls to loosen it from the frozen contents bonded thereto, and two actuating bars ex-" tending respectively along said two longitudinal walls and arranged to be directly positively forced longitudinally forward by the forward movement of said one cross wall, said bars serving to en gage and move the remaining cross walls upon forward longitudinal movement of said bus.

5. A freezing tray having a container pan and a partitioning grid therefor, said grid comprising: two longitudinal partition walls, a plurality of cross partition walls each extending transversely across said two longitudinal walls and mounted thereupon so as to be capable of a forward movement relative thereto, a hand lever pivoted upon both of said longitudinal walls and having cam means for moving forward one of said cross walls to loosen it from the frozen contents bonded thereto, and two actuating bars extending respectively along said two longitudinal walls and arranged to be contacted and forced longitudinally forward by the forward movement of said one cross wall, said bars serving to engage and move the remaining cross walls upon forward longitudinal movement of said bars, said hand lever engaging said two bars to restore same to their initial position upon the return movement of said lever to its initial position.

6. A freezing tray having a container pan and a partitioning grid'therefor, said grid comprisin'g: two longitudinal partition walls, a plurality of cross partition walls each extending transversely across said two longitudinal walls and mounted thereupon so as to be capable of a forward movement relative thereto, a lever pivoted upon both of said longitudinal walls closely adjacent one endmost cross wall, said lever having cam means thereon for directly contacting and camming said endmost cross wall forward to loosen it from the frozen contents, two actuating bars overlying respectively said two longitudinal walls and arranged to be forced longitudinally relative thereto by a forward movement of said endmost cross wall, said actuating bars having a notched engagement with and serving to move forward some of said cross walls other than said endmost cross wall.

7. A freezing tray having a container pan and a partitioning grid therefor, said grid comprising; two longitudinal partition walls, a plurality of cross partition walls each extxending transversely across said two longitudinal walls and mounted thereupon so as to be capable of a forward movement relative thereto, said two longitudinal walls being outwardly inclined toward their lower portions, a hand lever reacting upon said longitudinal walls and directly engaging one of said cross walls for forcing same forward to loosen it from the frozen contents, two longitudinally movable actuating bars for engaging and forcing forward additional cross walls to loosen same from the frozen contents, said actuating bars being mechanically forced forward by'said one cross wall and mechanically moved rearwardly by said hand lever upon return movement of said lever to its initial position.

ARTHUR J. FREI, SR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,245,440 Jacobs June 10, 1941 2,260,363 Carney Oct. 28, 1941 2,265,731 Haugh Dec. 9, 1941 2,267,439 Carney Dec. 23, 1941 2,267,441 Carney Dec. 23, 1941 2,351,303 Storer June 13, 1944 2,369,532 Carney Feb. 13, 1945 

